Material elevator attachment for ladders



Jan. 27, 1953 ca. EPPINK MATERIAL ELEVATOR ATTACHMENT FOR LADDERS FiledJuly 10, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Affomey Jan. 27, 1953 G. EPPINK 2,626,683

' MATERIAL ELEVATOR ATTACHMENT FOR LADDERS Filed July 10, 1950 I 2SHEETS-SHEET 2 /n ven for Georgggppl'nk Patented Jan. 27, 1953 UNITEDSTATES PATENT MATERIAL ELEVATOR ATTACHMENT FOR LADDERS George Eppink,Tallmadge Township, Ottawa County, Mich.

Application July 10, 1950, Serial No. 172,892

7 Claims.

My invention relates to materials elevator and particularly to adetachable elevator unit designed to be mounted upon a standard ladderof the type conveniently used by carpenters and masons in constructionwork.

A number of materials elevator attachments for ladders have beendeveloped, which prior developments have employed several diiferentprinciples of construction. Each of these prior developments has,however, proved to be unsatisfactory in service because of either theircomplexity, their lack of ease in operation, their limitation to singlelength ladders, or their lack of adaptability to use under varyingconditions.

In order to be practical any materials elevator arrangement to be usedwith a ladder must be both simple and economical to build. At the sametime the equipment must .be adaptable to use with any of the many types,sizes and shapes of ladders commonly in use. This adaptability mustinclude its capacity for use with sectional ladders. each of thesevarious types of ladders without in any way weakening the ladder orrequiring permanent attachment to the ladder whereby the weight of theequipment must necessarily be raised with the latter when the ladder isput into place. This last factor is particularly important where theequipment is to be used by a single operator. Even where two men areinvolved in the operation of erecting the ladder, it is both undesirableand unsafe to require the raising of a ladder having a quantity of heavyequipment anchored to the ladder, particularly at its upper end. It isalso desirable to make the elevator equipment removable in order tofacilitate transportation of the ladder. The operation of mounting anddismounting the equipment should be simple and capable of rapidexecution.

Many of the existing materials elevator attachments for a ladder mountthe materials holding slide or cradle on the rails of the ladder. Thisseriously restricts the equipment because of the number of differentladder widths in commen use. Further, some types of ladders are designedwith rails of constant spacing but others have rails which converge asthey extend up the ladder.

It is, therefore, a primary object of my invention to provide amaterials elevator designed to be detachably mounted upon and used withany ladder irrespective of its size, construction or number of sections.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a materials elevatorfor a ladder which is simple in construction and is readily attachableor removable from the ladder and does not utilize any permanentattachments to the ladder.

It is an additional object of my invention to provide a materialselevator for a ladder so designed that the materials placed upon theelevator are readily accessible at any place on the ladder.

It must be adapted to mounting on A further additional object of myinvention is to provide a materials elevator for a ladder which is bothsafe in operation and sufiiciently strong to handle any load which theladder will support without requiring the operator to exert more than areasonable amount of effort. v

These and other objects and purposes of my invention .will beimmediately seen by those acquainted with the design and construction ofbuilders equipment and hardware upon reading the following specificationand the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front,'elevation view of a ladder equipped with myimproved materials elevator.

Figure 2 is an oblique view of the winch assembly for my improvedmaterials elevator.

Figure 3 is anoblique view of the pulley assembly for my improvedmaterials elevator.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, oblique View of the carriage for my improvedmaterials elevator.

Figure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevation view of the upperend of a ladder equipped with my materials elevator. 4,

Figure 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, partially sectional view of thehandle mounting for the winch of my improved materials elevator.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along the plane VII-VII of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a sectional view of the ratchet mechanism for the winch ofmy improved materials elevator taken along the plane VIII-VIII of Figure1.

Figure 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of the mounting forone end of the pulley assembly of my improved materials elevator.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary, sectional, elevation view of the carriagewhich is used with a multisectional ladder.

In executing the' objects and purposes of my invention I have provided aWinch assembly detachably mountable to the lower end of a conventionalladder and a pulley assembly detachably mountable to the upper. end of aconventional ladder. A carriage is provided to slidably ride upon theladder rungs between the ladder rails, the movement of which carriage iscontrolled by a cable running over the pulley assembly and anchored tothe winch. The carriage is provided With a platform designed to standout from the carriage in a substantially horizontal position when theladder is inclined against the side of a building. The upper and lowerends of the carriage are bent outwardly from the ladder to preventinterference between the ladder and the carriage ends as the carriagemoves up and down the ladder.

In the following description the terms upwardly and downwardly arefreely used and are to be taken as meaning upwardly in the directionshown in Figure 1 or as a ladder is normally used and downwardly awaytherefrom. The terms inwardly and outwardly are also freely used and areto be taken as meaning inwardly toward the wall or surface against whichthe ladder is resting, i. e., toward the right as the ladder appears inFigure 5, and outwardly away therefrom.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the numeral I indicates a ladderhavinga' pairof spaced, side rails 2 held together by a plurality ofsubstantially equally spaced ladder rungs 3. The rungs 3 and rails 2 areeach of conventional design and may be round, rectangular or-square,depending upon the construction of the ladder. The lower endof the.rails 2 areshown as diverging slightly outwardly from the center of theladder. This.construction.isillustrative only and is not to beconsidered .a..limitati on since ladders having any type .of footing .orlower end may be used.

At the upper. end .of .theiladder .I there is placed .apulley assembly 4which'includes a shaft 5 and a pulleyelement .6. Preferably, the pulleyelement .6 is rotatablymounted on the shaft'5 but the pulley element5.,may be rigidly mounted to the shaft 5 and the shaft 5 permitted torotate with the pulley element 6. The shaft 5 is, on each .sideof thepulley element 6, mounted by means of .bearings and la. The bearings Iand Ia are each attached to one of a pair of cap elements 3. I

The cup-shaped cap elements 8 consist of a U- shapedstrap 9 (Figs. 3 and5) joined at their freeends .by means of a U-shaped arm Ill. The

.Ueshaped arm I'U extends perpendicularly to the V and the sides of thearm I0 will slidably receive the upper end of the rails 2. Although, asbetween .variousmakes oflladders, the size of the rails 2 will varysomewhat, this variation is not so great that the caps 8 may not bemadeof sufficient size to assure seating over the largest of theserails andyet be capable of securely'supporting the pulley assembly 4 on ladders.having rails of somewhat different dimensions.

The shaft 5 is mounted to the bearing la in such .a manner that theshaft 5 may not move axially in relation to this bearing. To this end,a-pairof rings I] and Na (Fig. 9) are mounted on the shaft 5, one ateach end of the bearing 111, thus preventing the shaft from'movingaxially of thehearing la. The shaft '5 is "free to slideaxiallyinrelation to the bearing 2. This permits the spacing "betweenthe caps 81to be varied to accommodatefladders of differing-widths,yet'the .spacingof the pulleyelement 5 from the left hand Jail .(asappearing in Fig. 1) will remain constant. A pin I2 is mounted in theend of the shaft .5 adjacent the bearing 1 to prevent this bearing fromsliding off the end of the shaft 5 whilethe pulley :assembly is beingtransported.

In place of the use of the bearings "I and la, the bearing 1a may bedispensed with and the end of the shaft 5 rigidly welded or bolted tothe cap 8. The rings -II and and Na can then be eliminated since theshaft and cap are permanently locked together. When this construction isused, the pulley element 6 must be rotatably mounted on the shaft 5. Thebearing 1 remains unchanged since it must still beadjustable axiallyalong theshaft.

The winch assembly includes a shaft 2| on which ismounted a drum22(Figs. land 2). The shaft 2| is mounted to the ladder I by means ofapa'ir of support assemblies 23, each-detachably '24. At the corner ofthe plate, diagonally spaced from the clasp 25, 2. depending hook 21 isrigidly mounted to each of the plates as by welding. The book 21 isshaped substantially similar to that of a question mark and is designedto hook under and about one of the rungs 3. When the Winch assembly 2!]is in operation, the loading of the Winch urges the winch assemblyupwardly, WhiQh movementis resisted by the positive engagement betweenthe hook '2': and the rung '3.

Each of the plates 24 is equipped with a bearing 28 for rotatablysupporting the shaft 2| The shaft 2| is held against axial movement,relative to the bearing 28 on the'plate 24 on the left hand side (asappearing in Fig. 1') by the use of rings similar in construction andpurpose to the rings I and I la on the shaft 5. A pawl 35 consisting ofa U-shaped member is pivotally and slidably mounted on one of the plates24 by means of a stud 3|. The pawl 30, adjacent one end, is equippedwith a cut-out 32 for engaging the notches of the ratchet 33jmounted onthe shaft 2|. The pawl 3!] is pivotally hung adjacent its upper endwhereby it moves into engagement with-the ratchet wheel 33 by gravity.The slot '3'4'permits the'pawl '38 to be moved upwardly and then tippedbackwardly away from the ratchet slideinto the end of the shaft 2|(Figs.'2, 6 and '7'). The end of the handle 40 received intothe shaft 2|is equipped with a ring 4| and an annular channel 42 adjacent the ring4|. A slot 44 (Fig. '7) in the ring 4| permits the ring to pass the 'peg43 vmounted on and projecting into the shaft 2|. The .peg 43, once pastthe ring 4|, seats withinthe annular channel 42. The handle 40 isequipped with a stud 45 for engaging the convolute slots 46 in the endof the shaft 2|. Thus, the handle is first inserted in the end of theshaft 2| with the slot 44 in the ring 4| aligned with the peg 43. Thering 4| is pushed beyond thepeg 43;andthen the handle is turned slightlyto prevent its beingwithdrawn until the slot .44 and thepeg 43 areagain'aligned. Themetion of the handle is, in one direction,transmittedto the shaft .2I bymeans of the engagement of the peg 45 withone of the slots .46.

The carriage 50 consists of -a frame 5| having a central body portion,an upper portion 52 and a lower portion 53. The lower portion 53 isbraced by the cross member .54. Both the upper portion 52 and the lowerportion 53 of the frame are, in the same direction, inclined away fromthe main body portion of the frame. This inclination causes both theupper and the lower ends of the frame 5| to stand outwardly from therungs 3 when the carriage 5|) is seated on these rungs. The upperportion 52 of the carriage converges in a direction away from the main.body portion and, at its upper end, is provided with a loop :55. A pairof guide rods 56 are mounted to the frame adjacent the loop 55. Theseguide rods extend downwardly and attach to the upper end of the mainbody portionof the carriage. In a downward direction the guide rods 56diverge and stand outwardly from the frame 5|. The guide rods 56 serveto space the materials on the platform 51 outwardly from the ladderrails 2. This is particularly important when my elevator is being usedwith a sectional ladder (Fig. 10). Adjacent the lower ends of the guiderods 56, a materials holding member of platform 5'! is hingedly mountedto the frame 5| by means of the brackets 58. The inward ends of thebrackets 56 are L-shaped whereby the platform 51 may be pivoted upwardlyto seat against the guide rods 56. The platform will be so spacedoutwardly from the frame 5| that the guide rods 56 will not interferewith this pivotal movement of the platform. The platform 51 is heldperpendicular to the frame 5| by the abutment of the ends of thebrackets 58 with the frame 5|.

The platform 51 may be replaced with a box or basket. Sides may be addedto the platform to make it suitable for use with bulk materials such asmortar or cement.

The drum 22 consists of a central cylinder 60 having at each end aterminal disk 6|. A cable 62 is mounted to the drum in any conventionalmanner, as by a bolt or engagement in a slot in the cylinder 66, andpasses from the drum 22 up the ladder and over the pulley element 6 andon the front or upper side of the ladder is provided with a hook 63. Thehook 63 engages the loop 55 at the upper end of the carriage 50. Thecable 62 may be of any suitable material such as wire or fiber rope andis designed to be wound around the drum 22 between the terminal disks6|.

The various parts of my pulley assembly, winch assembly and carriageassembly may be fabricated from any suitable material. The choice ofmaterials will depend upon the factors of cost, weight and suitability.

Operation For purposes of transportation my materials elevator may bedivided into four separate units consisting of the pulley assembly 4,the winch assembly 26, the carriage assembly 50 and handle 46. Each ofthese separate units may be carried separately, materially facilitatingmovement of the elevator. When the materials elevator is beingtransported, the cable 62 is entirely wound onto the drum 22 and the rod1'6 is installed. The rod 1!) merely pro ects through one of the disks6| and threadedly engages a suitable opening in the other of the disks6|. With the rod is in place. the cable cannot become unwound from thedrum 22.

The winch assembly 26 is then pulled upwardly until the hooks 21 firmlyengage the rung 3 and the wing nuts 26 tightened to pull the claspssecurely against the rails 2. The pulley assembly 4 is'mounted to theladder merely by seating the caps 8 over the upper ends of the ladderrails 2. The rod 16 is removed from the drum 2'2 and the cable 62unwound and passed up on the under or inward side of the ladder and overthe pulley 6 and then down the front or outward side of the ladder. endof the cable is engaged to the carriage assembly 50. When the ladder ispositioned against the side of a building or the edge of a roof, thearms l space the top of the ladder outwardl from the wall or the roofedge (Fig. sufficiently to insure an operating clearance for the pulley6. When the ladder is resting against a roof or building with the top ofthe By means of the hook 63 the 1 ladder projecting upwardly above thispoint of support, the cable 62 will not touch the building. The pulleyelement 6 has a groove of sumcient depth that the cable will travelwithin the outline of the ladder rails 2 (Fig. 5). In this position thearms [0 are unnecessary because the pulley is so placed that additionalclearance for it is unnecessary.

The handle 40 is next installed by inserting the end of the handle intothe end of the shaft 2| with the slot 44 aligned with the peg 43. Thehandle is then turned to engage the stud 45 with the slot 46.

The materials to be raised or lowered are placed on the platform 51. Myinvention is suitable for use with any type of material, examples ofwhich are bricks, containers of mortar, shingles, eaves troughing orrolls of roofing paper. By means of the crank 40 the drum 22 is rotatedto wind up the cable 62, causing the carriage assembly 56 to slide upthe ladder. As the carriage assembly 50 slides up the ladder, theoutward curvature of the upper portion 52 of the carriage frame permitsthe carriage to bridge the gap between the rungs without the carriagebecoming snagged against one of the rungs. This outwardly inclination ofthe ends of the carriage frame permits the carriage to slide up and overthe rungs 3a of a second section of ladder (Fig. 10) without thecarriage becoming snagged on the rungs 3a of the overlapping uppersection 80. Downward sliding of the carriage is prevented by the pawl 36and ratchet 33. When the carriage assembly 50 has reached the desiredelevation it will be retained there by the pawl and ratchet. When thematerials have been unloaded from the platform 51, the pawl 3|] ispivoted upwardly and backwardly on the stud 3! whereby it will cease toengage the ratchet wheel 33. Using the handle 46 as a brake the cablemay be permitted to unwind under the urging of the carriage assembly 56,thus lowering the carriage assembly ready for another load. The outwardinclination of the lower portion 53 of the carriage frame 5| preventsthe lower end of the carriage from becoming snagged on the rungs 3 asthe carriage descends. It also prevents snagging of the carriage as itbridges the joggle where the upper and lower sections of the ladder cometogether. When the elevator is to be used for lowering materials as wellas raising them, any conventional means may be added to the winchassembly to check the descent of the carriage should the operator losecontrol of the handle Ml. The winch assembly 20 is preferably mounted onthe ladder at a convenient height for manipulation of the handle 40 bythe operator. Since each of the various assemblies constituting mymaterials elevator is quickly and easily mountable and demountable fromthe ladder, it is not essential that these assemblies be attached to theladder prior to erection of the ladder. The operator places the pulleyassembly on the ladder after the ladder is erected by pushing on thewall, separating the top of the ladder from the wall sufiiciently topermit the pulley assembly 4 to be seated over the upper end of therails. Since the carriage assembly 50 rides upon the rungs 3 rather thanthe rails Z and is constructed narrowly enough to seat between the railsof the upper section of a conventional extension type ladder, thiscarriage may be conveniently used with ladders of various widths becausethe width of the ladder has no bearing upon the operation of thiscarriage. The carriage assembly 56 is these rungs. assembly 50 upon therungs rather thanmount- .:ma de .of -.suffilcient length-that it :ridesupon at leasttwozand preferably more of the ladder rungs whereby theweight/of the .lnaterial being carried by the carriage is carried upontwo or more of By :merely sliding the carriage ing it on the rails bymeans of wheels, as conventionally employed, the construction .of the"carriage is greatly simplified, and thus its cost weight are bothmaterially reduced. The

@carriage'rides-on theupper or outer side of the against the 'guiderods55 when the platform is either notin use or being transported. Thus,it

prov-ides a morecompact unit for transportation.

'By making the mounting'means for the pulley assembly "4 and for thewinch assembly 20 each fixedlyspaced from the pulley 8 and the drum 22,respectively, on the same end, the pulley (i and the drum 22 are alwaysaligned longitudinally of the ladder -I irrespective of the width of theladder. Thus, the cable 62 will always be alignedfor proper travel overthe pulley 6 without the necessity of lengthy adjustments by theoperator.

.I havedescribed both the structure and operation of onepreferredembodiment of my improved materials elevator. Numerous modifications ofmy elevatormay .bemade without departing from the principles of myinvention. Each of these modifications are to beconsi-dered as includedin the hereinafter appended claims unless these claims by theirlanguageexpressly provide otherwise.

I claim:

-1. In a materials elevator attachable to a ladder having an upper endand a lower end and a pair of spaced rails, a plurality of rungs mountedto and extending between said rails, the combination comprising: awinch; means for detachably mounting said winch to said ladder .ad-

jacent the lower end of said ladder; a pulley assembly; means fordetachably mounting said pulley assembly to the rails of said ladder atthe upper :end of said ladder; a carriage slidably .seatedton said:rungs between saidrails; a flexible member attached to the upper end ofsaid-carriage and to said Winch and seated over said :pulley assemblywhereby rotation of said winch in one direction will cause said flexiblemember to move said carriage up said ladder and rotation in the oppositedirection will move said carriage down said ladder.

2. In a materials elevator as described in claim ,1 wherein said pulleyassembly includes a shaft and a pulley .element mounted thereon and saidmeans for detachably mounting said pulley assembly to the rails of saidladder includes a pair of cap members each defining an internal chamberfor receiving the upper end of one of said rails.

3. In a materials elevator as described in claim 1 wherein said pulleyassembly includes a shaft and a pulley element rotatably mounted thereonand said means for detachably -mounting said pulley assembly to the.rails of said ladder includes a pair of cap members each defining aninternal chamber .for receiving the upper end of one of said rails; aspacer arm on each of said caps; each of saidspacer arms projecting fromsaid caps on the under side of said ladder.

4. In a materials elevator as set forth in claim 1 wherein said carriageincludes a frame and a materials holding member projecting from saidframe; each of the ends of said frame projecting away from said ladder.

' 5. In a materials elevator as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidcarriage includes a frame; a materials holding member hingedly mountedto said :frame for pivotal movement from a position parallel :to saidframe to a position substantially horizontal when. said ladder isinclined at .an

angle of substantially degrees to a.horizontal plane.

6. In a materials'elevator as described in'claim 1 wherein said pulleyassembly includes a shaft and a pulley element rotatablyimounted thereonand said means for detachably mounting said pulley assembly to the railsof said ladder includes a pair of cap members each defining an internalchamber for receiving the upper end of one of said rails; one of saidcap members affixed t said shaft against movement axially of said shaft;the other of said cap members mounted on said shaft for sliding movementaxially of said shaft.

'7. In a materials elevator attachable to a ladder having an upper endand a lower end and a pair of spaced rails, a plurality of rungs mountedto and extending between said rails, the combination comprising: a winchincluding a drum; a pair of bracket elements for detachably mountingsaid winch to said ladder adjacent the lower end of said ladder, one ofsaid bracket elements fixedly spaced from said drum, the other of saidbracket element variably spaceable from said drum; a pulley assembly,including a shaft and a pulley element mounted thereon; a pair of capmembers mounted on said shaft-each of said cap members defining aninternal chamber for receiving the upper end of one 'of said rails; oneof said cap members fixedly spaced from said pulley element, the otherof said cap members variably spaced from said pulley element; saidpulley element and said drum aligned longitudinally of said ladder; acarriage slidably seated on said rungs-between said rails; a flexiblemember attached to the upper end of said carriage and'to said winch andseated over said pulley assembly Wherebyrotation of said winch in onedirection will cause said flexible member to move said carriage up saidladder and rotation in the opposite direction will permit said carriageto move down said ladder.

GEORGE EPPINK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 86,600 Spear Feb. 2, 1869 156,541Conrad et al. Nov. 3, 1874 290,536 Clapp et al. Dec. .18, 1883 2,405,505:Kleidon Aug. '6, 1946

